Tehran University Medical Journal

Background: There is a concern by some doctors that not interrupting the patients' initial statements of concerns can lead to too long medical visits. Therefore, in this study, the duration of the patients' initial statements of concerns was studied. Methods: This descriptive cross sectional study was conducted from August to October, 2011 in the Emergency Department of Imam Khomeini Hospital in Tehran. 100 patients entered the study through convenience sampling. Based on a 5 level triage system Emergency Severity Index (ESI), patients who were not life-threatening conditions (level 5) entered the study and critically ill patients and foreign patients were excluded from the study. Demographic data of the patients and durations the patients' initial statements of concerns were recorded and measured. Results: Fifty-six percent of patients were men. 79 percent of them had academic degree less than diploma and most of them have Persian ethnicity (60 percent). The mean age of the participants was 37.09 (SD, 1.68). The mean durations of patients' initial statements was 71.60±2.37 seconds. The minimum time was 22.51 seconds and the maximum time was 206.51 seconds. There was significant difference between age (P=0.001, r=0.382) and gender (P=0.032, df=98, t= -2.17) with the durations of patients' initial statements. But education level (P=0.996, F (2, 97)=0.004) and ethnicity (P=0.266, F (6, 93)=1.3) did not have a significant effect on the durations of patients' initial statements. Conclusion: According to the findings of this study, duration of patients' initial statements of concerns is less than what which leads to an increase the time of medical visits.